Box Score The Carthage College women's basketball team (9-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) closed out its non-conference schedule on Thursday, Dec. 29 by knocking off No. 14 Wisconsin-River Falls (11-1), 75-68 in overtime, in the “D3hoops.com Classic” at the South Point Casino Arena in Las Vegas.   Carthage opened tournament play on Tuesday, Dec. 27 with a 57-51 win over DeSales University (5-5).
 
On Thursday, Wisconsin-River Falls took an early, eight-point lead, 12-4, at 14:28.  Carthage came right back with 10 unanswered points to take a 14-12 lead at 11:34.  The Lady Reds had a six-point lead, 27-21, at 3:57, but led by only a point at halftime, 31-30.  In the second half, with the game tied at 45-45 with 10:07 to play, Carthage ran off 10 unanswered points to take a 10-point lead, 55-45, at 7:27.  Back-to-back three-pointers by Allison Groessl and Haley Stercic at 8:09 and 7:27, respectively, caped the Lady Reds surge.
 
The Falcons came right back with a 14-2 run of their own.  Alise Holst connected on a three-pointer at 4:47 to shave the Carthage lead to 57-54.  A layup by Nikki Guhr at 3:48 made it a one-point game, 57-56, and a three by Brittany Gregorich at 3:11 put UW-River Falls back up, 59-57.  Carthage tied the game, 61-61, at 1:28 on a layup by Cailee Corcoran.  Diana Jacklin was fouled with 55 seconds to go, and she made both free throws to give the Lady Reds a 63-61 edge.  The Falcons' Tiffany Gregorich was fouled with 34 seconds and made both of her free throws to tie the contest, 63-63.  Jacklin's jumper with eight seconds remaining was blocked by Maranda Dohrn, sending the game into overtime.
 
Carthage scored the first five points in the overtime period, taking a 68-63 lead at 1:30.  Wisconsin-River Falls got no closer than four points, 72-68 at 37 seconds, as the Lady Reds went on to win by seven, 75-68.
 
Carthage shot 40 percent (26-65), including three-of-10 from the three-point range, while UW-River Falls shot just 35 percent (22-63) and hit just four-of-21 three-pointers.  The Falcons out-rebounded the Lady Reds by a 46-41 margin.  Carthage' Diana Jacklin (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) had 21 points on eight-of-15 field goals and five-of-seven free throws, along with 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.  Cailee Corcoran (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill./Chicago-Marist) had 19 points on seven-of-19 shooting and five-of-six from the free-throw line, along with a team-high 12 rebounds.  Allison Groessl (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) added 15 points for the Lady Reds.  Tiffany Gregorich scored a game-high 22 points for Wisconsin-River Falls on six-of-14 field goals and a perfect nine-of-nine free throws, while Maranda Dohrn had 14 points and  game-high 13 rebounds.

“We felt this would be a good matchup,” said Carthage coach Tim Bernero, “and we put together a good 45 minutes.  Diana Jacklin did a great job, and we guarded Wisconsin-River Falls the way we hoped to.  We didn't shoot the ball very well, but we shot it enough to win the game.  While it's nice to play somebody different, like DeSales , in a tournament situation, playing a strong in-region team like UW-River Falls is a great matchup for us.  We try to play the better team in our region, and this is the kind of team we want to play.  The style of play in our region is a lot more physical than some of the other regions around the country.” (courtesy of "D3hoops.com")

Carthage opens CCIW play on Wednesday, Jan. 4 by traveling to Naperville, Ill., to play North Central College (6-5, 0-0 CCIW) in a 5:30 p.m. game at Merner Fieldhouse/Gregory Arena.